Minor hurlers show positive signs

MAYBE it had something to do with what they had with their porridge on Saturday morning, as the Meath hurlers netted two early goals in this All-Ireland MHC B quarter-final and pushed on from there to secure victory with considerable comfort. It was an early start for both sets of players at Pairc Tailteann with a 12.30 throw-in. That didn"t appear to faze the home players who led by 2-3 to 0-1 after nine minutes and looked poised to inflict more pain. Instead, the young Kerry men, who had travelled up the previous evening, stood their ground and made a fight of it without ever threatening to return home with the booty. With most of the side that won the All-Ireland title at this level last year still involved this time around Meath always had the guile and the craft to keep a few steps ahead of their opponents. They led by 2-10 to 2-3 at the interval and despite not scoring for 14 minutes in the second-half they still had enough in the tank to leave plenty of daylight between themselves and their visitors from Munster. That lengthy spell without adding to their account was one of the features of this encounter that will cause some concern to the Meath management. Overall, it was an encouraging display after a long spell without any competitive action. There were certainly enough positive aspects to give the Meath players plenty of confidence going into the semi-final this weekend against Westmeath as they seek to hold onto their crown. There were the spells of fast-flowing play in the opening half when the Meath side, assisted by the breeze, sliced and spliced the Kerry defence. Kiltale"s Mark O"Sullivan slotted over Meath"s two opening points and that set the tone for a fine display from the half-forward. He went on to add six points to his team"s total, all from play and most of them were of textbook quality. It was the two early, quick-fire goals, however, that really set the young Royals on their way and provided the platform to go on from there. After just eight minutes a long ball caused confusion in the Kerry backline. Kilmessan"s Malcolm Doyle made full use of the opportunity to nip in and despatch the ball to the net. A minute later Tommy Meyler showed some neat steps and skilful hurling to win the ball and pass to the in-rushing Michael Kelly who calmly slotted low to the corner of the net. There were times during the game when the Meath youngsters appeared to lose their focus and allow their opponents the initiative. After their two early goals they may have thought that this was going to be much easier than they had previously imagined. Any such thoughts were surely dispelled when Kerry replied with two quick goals midway through the opening half. The home backline was exposed on 13 minutes when Shane Nolan won the ball about 35 metres out and ran through to find the net with Meath "keeper Shane McCann left with no chance. A few minutes later the tall, Kerry full-forward JB Halloran used his considerable bulk and strength to win the ball and display a deft touch in shooting past McCann. The Royal County showed that they have a number of potential freetakers in their camp with Padraig Kelly splitting the posts with a two well-directed frees from long range while Ray Massey also hit over two points from frees in more central positions. Just before the end Dermot Carty got in on the act with a pointed free. As well as the goal, Doyle bagged two points, one a memorable effort from out near the sideline that extracted applause from the handfull of supporters. During their lengthy barren spell in the second-half Meath players lost their killer first touch they had earlier on and lost some momentum. They rediscovered their form again towards the end closing out the game with a flurry of points from O"Sullivan and Carty to ensure their place in the last four. SCORERS Meath - M O"Sullivan 0-6; M Doyle 1-2; M Kelly 1-1: D Carty 0-2, one free; R Massey 0-2, two frees; P Kelly 0-2, two frees; G Murphy 0-1. Kerry - J B Halloran 1-1; B Kenny 0-4, all frees; S Nolan 1-0; G Lean 0-2; S Leen 0-1; C Harty 0-1. THE TEAMS Meath - S McCann; S Moran, S Troy, D Tormey; R Hatton, C O"Shea, P Kelly; G Murphy, W Mahady; G McGovern, R Massey, M O"Sullivan; M Kelly; T Meyler, M Doyle. Subs - D Carty for Tormey, 35 mins, A Healy for McGovern, 37m, K Keoghan for Kelly, 38m, Kelly for Meyler, 55m, N O"Rourke for Massey, 59m. Kerry - M Stackpool; J O"Connor, D Casey, C Fitzell; B Leen, P J Keane, M O"Sullivan; D O"Connell, S Leen; B Egan, B Kenny, C Harty; S Nolan, J B Halloran, G Egan. Subs - R Murphy for Fitzell, 11 mins, P O"Keeffe for O"Connor, 27m, S Dowling for B Leen, half-time, J Leahy for S Leen 58m. REFEREE Michael Mannion (Westmeath).